Man Up: Eagles' defense vs. Chiefs

Thanks for all the kind words on yesterday's Man Up on the Eagles' offense.

Today we do the defense.

Juqua Parker - He brought down Matt Cassel during the Chiefs' first drive, the second game in a row he's had a sack. Great hustle by Parker in the fourth quarter to run from his position at defensive end to the sideline and tackle wide receiver Mark Bradley, who had shaken free of Asante Samuel for a 5-yard gain.

Victor Abiamiri - He split time with Parker at defensive end and moved inside in nickel situations. Abiamiri did a better job against the run after the Saints really targeted his side a week ago.

Chris Clemons - He was credited with half a sack at the end of the first half.

Mike Patterson - I'll be honest. I re-watched every defensive snap and did not write down his name once. That doesn't mean Patterson played poorly. His job is to stuff the middle and create disruption. The Eagles' defense shut down Larry Johnson and company for most of the game even though Patterson finished without a tackle.

Broderick Bunkley - Alongside Patterson, Bunkley had a very strong game. He stuffed Johnson for a loss in the first quarter and also got to Cassel on a quarterback draw on third down in the third quarter.

Trent Cole - He was credited with half a sack at the end of the first half. Against the run, he did a good job throughout, finishing with eight tackles. On one play in the third quarter, Cole stuffed Johnson for no gain. He was fooled on the 22-yard end around to Bradley in the second half.

Darren Howard - He got to Cassel and batted down a pass at the end of the first half. Howard easily could have received credit on the Eagles' group sack at the end of the first half. He lined up inside and got good pressure to force a rushed throw by Cassel in the third. He saw more time than usual at defensive end in place of Cole. On one play there in the third, he was moved aside on a 5-yard Johnson run.

Chris Gocong - He really wasn't very noticeable. Gocong was one of several Eagles who stuffed Johnson on the first play of the second half. He also had a hand in stopping Johnson for no gain in the fourth.

Omar Gaither - He may have been the best player on defense Sunday. Gaither led the Eagles with nine tackles, and it seemed like he had twice that many when I re-watched the game. Gaither was sensational against the run. He made a good read and tackle to stuff Johnson on a 1-yard run in the first quarter. One play later, he dropped him for a 4-yard loss. As a blitzer, he came up the middle once and forced a Cassel incompletion. Gaither was also credited with a sack.

Akeem Jordan - A pretty quiet game for Jordan after he was one of the only Eagles defenders to make plays against the Saints. He stopped Johnson on the Chiefs' first drive and finished with four tackles.

Tracy White - It seemed like he was on the field more in the nickel package with Gaither. White came up the middle on a blitz in the second quarter and forced a Cassel incompletion.

Asante Samuel - The Chiefs stayed away from him for most of the game. They did target him on a couple wide receiver screens, and he tackled better than in Week 2, but still missed one against Bradley.

Sheldon Brown - He made a good tackle on Bradley on third down on the Chiefs' second drive to force a punt. He also made the key third-down tackle on the following drive. It was a great effort play. Brown dove at the feet of running back Jamaal Charles at first but couldn't bring him down. Brown gave a great second effort and wrapped up the running back to force the punt. He did miss one tackle on Johnson's 14-yard run in the third quarter.

Joselio Hanson - He came on a blitz and met Bunkley to stuff Johnson for a loss in the first. Was not called on to make any plays in the passing game.

Ellis Hobbs - Bradley made a play over him for the Chiefs' second-quarter touchdown. Hobbs' coverage was good, but Bradley fought to snatch the ball over him. Hobbs was in on that entire drive, replacing Brown. He couldn't shed Terrance Copper on Bradley's 22-yard end around in the third. Hobbs made a nice play against the run, tripping Johnson up for no gain in the fourth quarter.

Quintin Mikell - He made a good tackle in coverage, stopping tight end Sean Ryan after a gain of 3 in the second quarter. He tripped up Ryan from behind later in the game after a 4-yard gain. Mikell also did a good job to catch up with Bradley on the 22-yard end around in the third. He missed a tackle on the 14-yard Johnson run in the third.

Macho Harris - Another quiet game from the rookie. As I've said in previous weeks, he's not making a lot of plays, but he's not really hurting the Eagles either. Harris made a good solo tackle of Charles on a 6-yard gain in the second quarter.

Sean Jones - He saw the field during garbage time. It looked like he may have been matched up with wide receiver Bobby Wade on the fourth-quarter TD, but tough to know for sure from the TV angle.

Other notes:

** Trevor Laws and Antonio Dixon were rotated in at the defensive tackle spots quite a bit.
** Teams are not having success running at Cole.
** This is probably overly simplified, but if I'm an offensive coordinator and I have a physical wide receiver matched up with Asante Samuel, I'm throwing screens his direction all day.
** Linebackers Joe Mays and Moises Fokou got on the field during the Chiefs' final drive.
** Last week, some of you thought the Saints shouldn't have blitzed on the Eagles' final drive since they were up big. Well, I doubt Sean McDermott had a problem with it. He sent guys with 2:25 left when the Eagles were up, 34-7.